Monetary decision ‘revolutionary': FT

The Financial Times led its Friday edition with a story describing Japan’s bold monetary policy move Thursday as a “revolution.”

“The Bank of Japan launched a monetary revolution yesterday aimed at ridding the country of the deflation that has dogged it for almost two decades,” the British daily said.

“The BOJ, for long the world’s most cautious central bank, plans to lead its peers in its attempt to restart robust growth and inflation in the world’s third-largest economy,” it said.

Under the decision, the BOJ will expand its balance sheet by 1 percent of gross domestic product each month this year, against a pace of 0.54 percent for the U.S. Federal Reserve, the paper said, citing estimates by Barclays.

“It’s pretty bold. It has certainly taken us by surprise,” a foreign exchange strategist was quoted as saying.

In an editorial, the Financial Times also said that “it has taken Haruhiko Kuroda just one meeting to revolutionize two decades of failing monetary policy in Japan.”

But it noted Kuroda “needs support from the government.”

“Having rightly pushed for change at the helm of the BOJ, Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, should now do his part to help the economy,” it said.